A student at Land O' Lakes High or Sunlake High who wants to become a nurse could, by 2028, train in simulated operating rooms and surgical labs without leaving Pasco County or paying tuition.

Pasco County Schools is building an $80 million medical magnet high school in Wesley Chapel, near Double Branch Elementary off Meadow Pointe Boulevard, with a projected 2028 opening, Tampa Bay 28 reported Aug. 12. Enrollment is free and open to any student living in Pasco County.

Superintendent John Legg said the school is a direct response to health care hiring expected in the region.

"We know that there's gonna be a need for 30,000 new medical jobs here in the North Tampa Bay community in the next five years, and we want our students here in Pasco County to be front of the line for those jobs," Legg said.

The curriculum will include nursing programs and electives focused on the medical field, with labs featuring simulated operating and surgical areas. Legg said the goal is to give students a meaningful head start before they enter the workforce or pursue higher education.

Funding draws from a local sales tax and medical partners

The project draws from three sources: Penny for Pasco, a voter-approved local sales tax; local property taxes; and support from medical partners in the community. The Pasco County School Board took a procedural step toward construction on Aug. 11, approving a $194,400 mitigation credit purchase to advance the project.

Nearby hospital expansion is fueling demand for health care workers

The school arrives as health care employment in North Tampa Bay is surging. Moffitt Cancer Center's 775-acre Speros biotech campus in Land O' Lakes, backed by more than $1 billion in capital investment, opened its outpatient cancer center in January and its Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Center in late July. The proton center treated its first patient July 31.

That concentration of medical employers is exactly what Legg pointed to. He said the district does not want those employers hiring outside Pasco County when local students could fill the roles.

Current seventh graders are the first class eligible for all four years

Legg said students in seventh grade right now should begin considering whether the school is the right fit, since the class of approximately 2030 would be among the first to benefit from all four years.

Land O' Lakes High already holds a 2025 Top Magnet School of Excellence designation from Magnet Schools of America. No enrollment application window or lottery date for the new medical magnet school has been announced.